There is a bunch of interesting ideas in this article. For one, it talks about how a company does inside and outside holiday decoration.

Do you think this would be perfect for a husband and wife design team?

When a simple strand of lights won't do (http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=544909&category=BUSINESS&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=12/15/2006) - "We've been doing it all our lives," said David Siders, Grant's partner at the store. "We do homes and we do commercial work. It's becoming more and more popular."

Outside, they'll do railings, lampposts and shrubs, and hang wreaths and swags.

"We can do it all," Siders said. But, he added, "we only do tasteful things."

That means no inflatable Christmas figures and no "lawn art."

While more homeowners are turning to others to do their decorating, it remains largely an upscale market, said Ted Gargano, whose company, Gargano's Green Team, has the local Christmas Decor franchise.

Lubbock, Texas-based Christmas Decor has been offering franchises since 1996. Gargano owns the franchises in Orange County downstate and in the Capital Region.

Gargano said prices begin at $500 and can reach several thousand dollars. For that, the company supplies the decorations, maintains them, and updates them from year to year. It designs and installs the displays, takes them down at the end of the season, and stores them.

In Orange County, where he has been in business for four years, Gargano said the average customer spends more than $2,000 a year. One customer spent $11,000, and that didn't include the work to install extra outdoor outlets to power all the lights.

Gargano also has the local Scotts Lawn Care and Pro Painters franchises, so the holiday decorating keeps his workers on the payroll year-round. The painters, he said, are used to working on ladders, while the lawn care people are experienced with greens and shrubbery.

tiedeman

12-17-2006, 01:36 PM

good article

Steve

12-18-2006, 04:48 PM

Thanks. I think it does get you thinking. It's nice seeing what others are doing that they find success in.